The final statistics seemed to show that Maple Grove had battled top-seeded Wayzata' to almost a stand-still.

Maple Grove and Wayzata each had 10 first downs. The Crimson had 212 yards of total offense compared to Wayzata's 301.

However, the statistics did not tell about Wayzata's explosive offense that took advantage of Maple Grove's turnovers to win the Section 6 championship game 34-7 Friday, Nov. 3. “We competed with them but their two backs just made some big plays," Crimson coach Craig Hansen said. "You give them a crack and away they go.

The Crimson defense kept Wayzata's one-two punch of Marion Barber III and Otis Smallwood in check for most of the first half. The Trojans reached Maple Grove's 38 on their second possession but a big sack by linebacker Dennis Bilancia forced a punt.

Senior receiver Jake Johnson promptly returned the punt 56 yards to the Wayzata 34 and the Crimson moved in to score. John Hicks' hard running and an eight-yard pass from quarterback Ryan Koch to Hicks put the Crimson close to the goal line and Hicks powered in from two yards out for the touchdown on the second play in the second quarter and kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

The Trojans finally got untracked on their next possession. The Crimson came up with big tackles from Bilancia, Johnson and Andy Greeder to force Wayzata into a third and 12 position but Barber ran for 10 yards to set up a fourth-and-two on the Maple Grove 31. After a timeout, the Trojans went to Barber again and the sort of former Gopher Marion Barber found a seam around right end and was gone. The extra point kick was no good and Maple Grove hung on to a 7-6 lead.

On the Crimson's next possession, Barber stepped in front of a pass from Koch on the Wayzata 44. On the next play, Smallwood found a crack on the left side and dashed 56 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. The kick gave Wayzata a 13-7 lead but Maple Grove was still very much alive.

The big momentum swing came early in the second half when the Crimson stopped Wayzata on its first second-half possession but a roughing the punter call gave Wayzata the ball back and the Trojans capitalized.

"That penalty was the big downer," Hansen said. "There was a big change of momentum after that."

Trojan quarterback Jordan Ruff completed a long pass to John Croyle that put the ball on the Maple Grove one and Ruff crashed in from there to increase Wayzata's lead to 20-7.

On the Crimson's next possession, the Trojans came up with another interception and it was all Wayzata after that as Ruff' added another one-yard TD run and Barber broke loose for a 34-yard scoring run.

"In the final 16, all teams are winners," Hansen said. "You have to play perfect. Against athletic teams like Wayzata, when you make mistakes they will jump on you and that's what happened Wayzata is a very good team, as good as any team we faced this season."

The loss ended a fine season for the Crimson, who were not expected to be much of a factor because of the loss of many top players, but ended up with an impressive 8-3 record.

"We had only four starters returning and had many new faces and no one considered that we would finish in sole possession for second in the toughest conference in the state and play for the section championship," Hansen said. "But we just came together and jelled as a team. That's the most exciting and satisfying part about the season."

The Crimson will lose some top seniors but return many underclassmen. "We will have a mix of people coming back and our sophomore team had a good year," Hansen said. "We are excited."

The football team banquet will be Monday, Nov. 13, at the high school cafeteria.